Some 23,000 students attend Australia’s 172 boarding schools, earning the sector $30 million a year. But do boarding schools have a future? Linda Belardi reports.

In the last two decades burdened by declining enrolments and negative public perception, Australia's boarding schools have undergone significant professional transformation. Since 1990, boarding school enrolments have declined by 20 per cent and the sector has turned to specialist training and national standards to strengthen its position. What has emerged in recent years is an increasingly market savvy, international and flexible sector. The impact of rural hardship and prolonged economic decline, however, continues to loom large for the industry. Nationally, there has been a general decline...